How can I use metallic inks on stationery projects without problems through a laser printer?

Answered by Stephen Beals, Digital Pre Press Manager and Writer

Question:
I've always been advised that you can't use metallic inks or foil stamps on
stationery packages if they are going to be run through a laser printer.
Although this seems to be the rule, I continue to see company letterhead using
these techniques. Since all companies today use laser printers, how are they
able to use their letterhead without the foil peeling off? I know there are
laser compatible metallic inks, but they don't have the same metallic look as
regular metallic ink.

L.W.

Answer:
In general, what you have heard is correct. Metallic inks and laser printers
don't play nice together. Metallic inks are actually metallic particles mixed
into tinted varnishes. Because the "shiny" effect is achieved when the ink dries and the metallic bits rise to the surface, these inks are highly susceptible to rubbing off and can be affected by the heat of laser printers (the particles can melt and slur). On uncoated papers, typically used in the printing of letterheads, the problem is compounded by the abrasive nature of the paper
surface. The choice of paper stock and the heat resistance of the varnish used
in the metallic ink have a great effect on how it holds up under heat and normal
use.

When running metallic inks on press it is desirable to run the density as
high as possible and run minimum amounts of water. It is also possible to
varnish over metallic inks to improve their resistance to rubbing and heat,
though it helps keep a better shine to run a little of the metallic ink with the
varnish. If that sounds a lot like double hitting the metallic ink, it is: and
that's another option.

Though we certainly would not advise it as a general practice, there might be
combinations of inks, papers and printing techniques that would allow metallic
inks to survive production laser printers. Ink companies do make metallic inks
that are less heat-sensitive and will run through desktop printers with no
problems. But high speed toner printers often run at higher heat settings to
achieve that speed and could create problems even with more heat resistant inks.
While it may help that printer manufacturers have developed new toners that fuse
to paper at lower temperatures, if you want to be able to run a letterhead
through ANY printer, it might be smart to avoid metallic ink.

There are also metallic pigments like Mirasheen that provide foil-like
results in a heat resistant pigmented ink. We haven't seen it, but it is
reported to give results that are difficult to tell from more traditional
metallic inks. We could also not find any reports on the specific question of
how this product holds up under laser printer heat. Contact your ink specialist
for this and other possible solutions.

It is interesting that laser printers can be used for APPLYING metallic foil
to printed documents, though it's a one-off proposition. There are foil tapes
designed for applying on top of black laser printed copies. The tape is cut
slightly larger than the text to be colorized, and the heat of running through
the printer (or a warm iron) fuses metallic particles to the black toner. Not
exactly a technique for a production environment, but it is effective.

Stephen Beals is a digital pre-press manager and has been writing for major print publications for many years. He is the author of A Practical Primer for Painless Print Production. He can be reached at stephenbeals@mac.com.